200 erring foreigners deported in the first 7 months of 1997

200 erring foreigners deported in the first 7 months of 1997

JAKARTA (JP): The Immigration Office deported 200 foreigners
in the first seven months of this year for allegedly violating
immigration regulations.

"The largest number were Malaysians who illegally entered
Indonesia via Nunukan (East Kalimantan) from Tawau (Sabah),"
department spokesman Mursanuddin A. Ghani told The Jakarta Post
yesterday.

Mursanuddin, however, refused to give further details.

Last month, the immigration office arrested more than a dozen
women who were caught red-handed working as prostitutes.

The office deported a Chinese acupuncturist yesterday arrested
last month for misusing his business visa.

Another foreigner, a Canadian, arrested last Friday for
illegally selling print ink, will be deported via a Japanese
Airlines flight today.

According to the director of the department's control and
execution unit, Zaiman Nurmatias, Canadian Benyamin Pang also
possessed an Indonesian ID card issued by the Jatiuwung district
in Tangerang.

Pang, however, only had a two-month short visit visa, Zaiman
said.

The Chinese acupuncturist, Ge Shu Han, who dubbed himself "the
God of Needles", was arrested on July 29 by undercover
immigration officers, who pretended to be clients at the Cahaya
Mandiri clinic on Jl. KH Zainal Arifin in Central Jakarta.

According to spokesman Mursanuddin, the acupuncturist's visit
to Indonesia was sponsored by the owner of the clinic.
Mursanuddin, however, did not disclose the identity or status of
the owner.

During questioning, Han said he arrived in Indonesia on July 9
using a business visa. It was his first visit. Han showed his
paperwork which described him as professor of acupuncture in
Lianing, China.

Mursanuddin said the foreigners were arrested based on public
reports which said they had run illegal businesses without
suitable work permits. (bsr)